20th Century
A History of Pop Music – Albums 1964
Featured Album: In Dreams This is a series of articles looking at albums from 1960 to whatever year we end up in. I will select a featured album for each year and the link for [more…]
History
20th Century
When We Was Fab – The Sydney Cricket Ground in the 1980s
40 or 50 years ago the SCG was probably the best place in the world to watch cricket. Sure Lord’s was more dignified and places like the MCG and Eden Gardens were bigger but this [more…]
19th Century
Timothy Hackworth: The Third Northumbrian of the Railway Revolution
Born in the same village as George Stephenson, 5 years earlier. The man who saved the Stockton and Darlington when the engines kept breaking down. The man who built Russia’s first locomotive… and then vanished [more…]
19th Century
The Scrapbook of Sherlock Holmes, 5/6: The Wolf Man of Mayfair. Part 2 of 2
Part One can be read here: The Scrapbook of Sherlock Holmes, 5/6: The Wolf Man of Mayfair. Part 1 of 2 It was fortunate for us that George lived only a few minutes’ brisk trot [more…]
19th Century
One Hundred Years Ago This Very Day
The ‘Grim up north’ trope reminds of Northern England’s story of endless decline. In reality, the region produced immense wealth through the likes of textiles, steel, coal and shipbuilding. Influential industrialists’ fortunes rivalled those in [more…]
19th Century
Robert Stephenson: The Son Who Built The Railways
Everyone knows George Stephenson. The self-taught genius who invented railways. Except he didn’t, really. George was the visionary, the man who saw what steam could do. But the man who actually designed the engines, surveyed [more…]
Arts
Tin Foil Hat – Final Part 3
This has got to be the final part of the Tin Foil Hat thereby creating a trilogy. There is only so much both you and I can stand. Keeping the usual caveats in mind, let’s [more…]
19th Century
The Scrapbook of Sherlock Holmes, 6/6: The Giant Rat of Sumatra. Part 1 of 2
In a record of one of our previous cases, to which I gave the somewhat lurid title ‘The Sussex Vampire’, my friend described the episode of the so-called Giant Rat of Sumatra as something ‘for [more…]
20th Century
So…What’s Going Postal good for? (Part 2)
Following on from Part 1………………… BB replied to me thus : Dear DJM Thank you for your kind reply. Your work is remarkable. Like you, I believe these photos are historical documents in their own right. [more…]